2004

Do you know what I do for a living? I go to gay bars. No kidding. Working in HIV prevention means I go to bars and hand out supplies. Can’t beat it. So I thought I’d give you a little bar guide so you won’t get in trouble, or as the case may be, will get into the right kind of trouble.

The first thing you need to know is the Twin Cities is unusual in that it doesn’t have a single gay or lesbian

district like Boy’s Town in Chicago or West Hollywood in LA. Also unusual is that through some quirk the bars in Minneapolis are almost entirely men, while the ones in St. Paul are 50% or more women. Who knows why. Also, keep in mind that the Twin Cities still allows smoking in bars.

Downtown Minneapolis has the most bars for any part of town with five, including the Gay 90’s, the Brass Rail, and the Saloon. The 90’s (408 Hennepin Ave) is a huge bar with several very different theme areas including an excellent drag show and a dance annex. This is the most multi cultural of all the bars and for Minneapolis has the most women. The Brass Rail (422 Hennepin, close to the 90’s) is a fun little bar with male dancers Thurs-Fri. 

The Saloon (730 Hennepin) has a younger clientele than the first two, and is the most popular place to dance in town. The Eagle and Bolt (515 Washington Ave. So.), two parts of the same bar, are the closest to the conference, within walking distance down Washington Ave. from the hotel. The Eagle is a leather bar, and it has a dress code Friday and Saturday nights, but the Bolt doesn’t. This place can be a little wild, which could be good or bad depending on your point of view.

Two newer, upscale bars are Jet Set and Boom. Jet Set (115-1st St. N) is a bar for the martini set, but it does have the feature of being smoke-free. Boom (401 E. Hennepin) is also pretty classy, but at the same time quite relaxed.

If a nice little corner stop is to your taste, then try the 19 Bar (19 W. 15th Street). It’s located in the closest thing we have to a gay ghetto, the Loring Park neighborhood.

In the St. Paul Midway area, check out the Town House (415 University Ave W., note that house numbers start over again in St. Paul). This is my favorite bar with a good mix of people and genders, featuring a dance floor and a piano lounge. Truly the scene of some of my greatest triumphs in the ‘80’s. Downtown St. Paul only has one bar, Trikkx (490 N. Robert St), a dark, friendly cavern with a good dance floor. Half-way back to the Town House in a quiet neighborhood, Over the Rainbow (719 Dale) is a little corner stop with dancing upstairs and almost all women down.